Venice Film Festival 2023: Tatami (Orizzonti) | Review
Tatami, by Guy Nattiv and Zar Amir Ebrahimi, skillfully combines sports excitement, political tension, and compelling character development to deliver a standout drama that deftly conveys its message without sacrificing quality.
Tatami, the latest addition to Iranian sports drama oeuvre opens to heart-pumping beats of loud rap that plays in Leila’s (Arienne Mandi) ears. She is the Iraninan judo team captain – focused, determined and eager to win the gold. By her side is the lead coach Maryam (Zar Amir Ebrahimi) keeping a close eye and tight grip on her team balancing between adhering to the strict rules of the Iranian government and providing her team with the chance to achieve their dreams. It doesn’t take long for these two to come to a head.
The first fights that we see Leila take part in are shot mostly in closeup on grips, filps and faces. It adds to the excitement and desire for our protagonist to go all the way. And then with a phone call, it is all under threat. Because there is a slight possibility that Leila will have to compete against an Israeli opponent on her way to the gold, the Iranian government wants her to pull out of the competition. It is against the law for Iranias to interact with Israelis which means that Leila will suffer severe consequences if she disobeys the directive. The World Judo Association becomes an unexpected hero in Tatami as the president of WJA and her assistant play a major role in protecting Leila and Maryam from Iranian agents. Who knew sports associatons worked as asylum assistants as well?
The mentioned law invokes real-life consequences for the film itself as it was co-directed by Israeli director Guy Nattiv and Iranian-French actress Zar Amir Ebrahimi and co-written by Nattiv and Elham Erfani. The trio make many intelligent and substantiated choices to tell this wholesome, tense and believable story. They trust the audience to connect the dots without holding their hand and explaining every single sports term or reason behind a threat.
Tatami delivers a masterclass in how a sports drama can be done at a top tier, but also in making a female-centred film. There are no feminist slogans spouted around to call attention to the opression of women in Iran. (Or at least, not until the very end where the when a speach agains the Iranian regime is delivered voiceover that feels out of place.) Laudable is how the writers provide their female characters – and all the leads and supporting actors are female – with a personality, a goal and agency. They are fleshed out as living beings which makes it all the easier to feel for them and root for them.
Overall, Tatami impresses as an excellent mixture of sports excitement, political prosecution and personal drama. For a film with such an insistence on sending a political message it has no business being as good as it. But it thrives.
